No one is too old for Santa

The annual Christmas craft sale was held at the Jubilee Hall in Big Valley on Saturday, Nov. 21, while Santa sat in the Buffalo Tradin Post gift shop along the boardwalk, entertaining kids and adults alike.

“No one is too old for Santa,” said Tom Plante, owner of the gift shop along with his wife Tanya Plante.

While Santa was entertaining crowds on a chilly Saturday morning at the boardwalk, community members attended the town’s Christmas craft sale at the Jubilee Hall, a couple of blocks down the Main Street.

Organized by Andrea Webster since 2000, the annual craft show and sale is one of the Christmas events that people from the town and surrounding areas do not miss.

“I have been running the show since 2000, but I think it probably ran for another five to 10 years prior to me organizing it,” said Webster. “Our venue dictates the size of our show, and when I can use every single table that is in the hall for our show, I am very pleased!”

“There are always local fundraisers involved, including the Big Valley Royal Purple, Big Valley 4-H Beef Club, Endmoor Novice Hockey team, Lakeview Goodwill Club from Elnora, Friends of the Big Valley Library and a fundraiser for the Jr. High School Exchange in the Spring,” added Webster. “And this year, a few new things were repurposed, such as kids’ furniture, handmade bat houses and a special display by the ‘Big Valley Artists’, which was very well received.”

Webster strives to bring in regular vendors along with others having unique products and ideas to the show, to keep it interesting.

“It was a very busy weekend with several other Christmas shows in the area, but there was a steady crowd all day, with no really busy periods,” said Webster. “The concession kept up with the pace as lots of people came to have coffee or lunch, there were a lot of regulars, but also a lot of new faces too.”